Central Authorities Meeting, 21 July 2014

Meeting Communiqué

The Commonwealth, state and territory central authorities for intercountry adoption held their secondquarterly meetingon 21July 2014.

Interdepartmental committee on intercountry adoption

Central authorities discussed the report by the Prime Minister’sInterdepartmental Committee on Intercountry Adoption. The report, presented to the Prime Minister in April 2014, is availablefrom the Department of thePrime Minister and Cabinet’s website:

Central authorities also discussed the inprinciple agreement by the Council of Australian Governments on 2 May 2014 to the Commonwealth’s proposal to provide a new national intercountry adoption service. The Australian Central Authority advised state and territory central authorities that intercountry adoption processes should continue as usualat this stage.

Update on possible new programmes

Central authorities discussed investigations into possible new programmes.

Country program issues

Central authorities discussed a range of country program issues includingthe ongoing implementation of the South Africa program and the outcomes of the 10 June 2014 videoconference with Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS) in South Korea.

Statistics collection

Representatives from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare discussed how to present the expected spike in statistics of children adopted from Taiwan, South Korea and Ethiopia in the Adoptions Australia 2013/14 report.Following recent amendments to the Family Law (Bilateral Arrangements – Intercountry Adoption) Regulations 1998, a number of adoptions finalised in Taiwan, South Korea and Ethiopia prior to 2013/14 will be captured in this year’s report.

Change of surname issue for children adopted from Taiwan and South Korea

Central authorities discussed available options for children adopted through the Taiwan and South Korea programs to change their surnames once they arrive in Australia. Children adopted in Taiwan and South Korea do not have their surname changed as part of the adoption process. Central authorities agreed to compile a list of the options across jurisdictions to be made available on the Attorney-General’s Department website.

Post-adoption

Central authorities agreed to compile a list of post-adoption reporting requirements and searching options for each country program to be made available on the Post-adoption Support page of the Attorney-General’s Department website.

Policy paper revisions

Central authorities agreed to finalise the revised relative, ad hoc, known non-relative, financial contributions and pre-placement contact policy papers. These revised policies will be available from the Intercountry Adoption Key Policies and Documents page of the Attorney-General’s Department website.

Harmonisation projects

Central authorities agreed to finalise the DNA testing fact sheet. The fact sheet provides advice for adoptees and families considering undertaking a DNA test to determine family relationships. The fact sheet will be available on the Completed Harmonisation Working Group Projectspage of the Attorney-General’s Department website.

Further information on the meeting outcomesis available from the Attorney-General’s Department Intercountry Adoption website:

Intercountry adoption central authorities meeting – 21 July 2014 communiqué

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